Introduction

Tankograd Publishing has recently released 2 books covering the Fuchs. The first of these new releases looks at the Fuchs development and Technology, the second looks at its use as a reconnaissance, Engineer and Command vehicle.

The following are the introductions provided by Tankograd Publishing covering these two releases;
The Transportpanzer 1 Fuchs (‘Fuchs' being German for ‘fox') wheeled armoured personnel carriers are, aside from the Leopard main battle tanks, the most iconic and most prominent assets of the modern German Army. The Fuchs is a highly mobile, armour-protected and amphibious vehicle that offers extreme cross-country mobility. Since 1979 the vehicle has been in service with the German Bundeswehr. Fitted with a wide range of mounting kits, mission kits and equipment sets, the vehicles saw and still see service with combat forces, combat support forces and command assets in Germany and on various missions abroad. This work in four parts covers the development, prototypes, technology, the different mounting kits, mission kits, equipment sets and combat capability improvements of the Fuchs in unprecedented detail.

Review

Tankograd Publishing is a company that I have come to think of as a friend to the modeller on a budget, who wants reference material in both the written and pictorial format. The text in the books is supplied in German and English, German on the left and English on the right. There is a surprisingly large amount of text offered in these two titles, and which provides a good grounding at an affordable price.

Book one covering the Development and Technology has 64 pages and 107 colour photographs along with 5 black and white pictures. Perhaps the best inclusion in this title from Tankograd Publishing are the 1/72nd scale and 1/35th scale drawings, these will be greatly appreciated by the modeller as they allow the modeller to quickly check the mouldings in a kit for scale accuracy, and so will quickly and easily show any errors in scale and placement of features.

Book two covering the Reconnaissance, Engineer and Command versions of the Fuchs also has 64 pages and provides 96 colour and 33 black and white photographs. This book also provides scale drawings, but only in 1/35th scale on this occasion that said the same pluses apply.

The images in these two titles are of a very high standard, and I like the fact that the vehicle has been covered inside and out. A number of the images show the Fuchs in the field, this aspect is a big plus for modellers who like to finish their models as if having spent a week on manoeuvres, the images provide you with the information on accurately applying weathering.

Conclusion

If the Fuchs appeals to you, you could do far worse than picking up one or more of the Fuchs titles from Tankograd Publishing. The photographs are of a high standard and will present you with a host of display possibilities, even when being used in its amphibious mode. The scale drawings in 1/35th and 1/72nd scale are a very big bonus for the modeller, allowing a quick and easy way of checking the moulding on any kits purchased. For those that like to know about the vehicles their models are based on, these titles have a good quantity of text, which due to the limited space available gets straight to the point rather than going around the houses.